Joshua Blackledge. Photo:

Noe-Brooks Funeral Home

Influencer Joshua Blackledge has died at age 16.

According to local news outlet Carolina Coast Online, he died on Tuesday, March 18, at his home in Newport, North Carolina, though a cause of death has yet to be specified.

Per an obituary shared by Noe-Brooks funeral home, the late influencer — a junior at West Carteret High School with 1.1 million followers on TikTok — was honored with a “celebration of life” on Sunday, March 23. Hundreds of Blackledge’s friends, fans and followers also flocked to the obituary site to share their condolences in comments, as they did on his most recent social media posts.

Blackledge’s content varied between lip-syncing clips, car content and videos taken with his friends and girlfriend, Emmie Gillikin.

He posted his final TikTok on March 14, a video taken with friends posing by a white truck, and many viewers voiced their disbelief that he died so soon after posting.

Joshua Blackledge. Joshua Blackledge/TikTok

Blackledge’s girlfriend, whom he mentioned in both his TikTok and Instagram bios, has posted a number of tributes to the social media star. On March 20, she compiled various clips recorded over the course of the relationship. The video was accompanied by a heartfelt caption.

“Missing this sweet boy right now. never would’ve thought i would have been here without you,” Gillikin began. “Josh showed me what love really was even [though] im very young. he never failed to put a smile on my face no matter how mad i was at him … Even after these past couple days nothing seems real and im feeling all the emotions.”

In Blackledge’s pinned TikTok posted in November 2024, he mentioned that he and Gillikin met two years prior, and at the time they had been dating for five months.